Hey, it’s that time of the year again! I’m feeling a bit ambivalent about watching the Kohaku this year, but I figure once it gets going, I’ll be more enthusiastic. I better set the VCR though, just in case I fall asleep or miss something. Here we go! Continue reading ‘2014 64th Annual NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen’
Archive for the 'Culture' Category
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Horrible! I cringe, sensibilities offended, every time I hear Andou Yuuko’s rendition of Aloha ‘Oe. I have no idea what went wrong, but she’s pronouncing it “aloha o-wee” instead of “aloha oy“. It’s not like the “oy” sound doesn’t exist in Nihongo (“oi”), and I hope it’s not like she never heard the song performed in its native ‘olelo Hawai’i previous to doing her recording. I could almost imagine the producer or whoever did the lyric translation saying, “sing it o-wee… why? Because I said so,” like how native English speakers who do bit parts on Japanese movies have to read the script verbatim no matter how gramatically wrong the lines are. We can’t really blame her though, until Americans learn to say “Tokyo” with less than three syllables. I think this is a theme song for a current movie or drama…
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Cruised by the new Teddy’s Bigger Burgers on Kapiolani for the little car show that Scat was in. 
Half the parking lot occupied by a small collection of classic American steel and a gaggle of VW Bugs. A couple of Imapalas done contemporary bagged style, a bunch of fairly typical Chevy and Fords.
Looks like Dave’s buddy got into a classic Camaro?
This thing looks like an oversized prop to make normally sized people look like Hobbits or children. Of course when you see something like this in the convenience store, you have to try it! According to the manufacturer’s website, the 568 calorie “King” versions are almost double the 328 calorie regular version. With the increase in size comes an increase in water to be added, up to half a liter versus the 300 or so needed for the standard. The wait time remains the same. Taste-wise, it’s as good (or as bad, if you will) as the regular version. According to the website, the toppings were supposed to be kanikama (artificial crab) and other fish paste products, squid, cabbage, green onion, and egg. There was flat, white stuff that looked like squid, but I think it was the inner leaves of the kanikama. The only chewy squid-like substance had the purple outer skin of octopus, and I had a piece that I swear had a tentacle sucker. Maybe squid and octopus are lumped together for allergy labeling purposes. The nostalgic thing for me was the foamy dehydrated dried egg that disappeared from the USDM versions of cup noodle to be replaced with corn of the same color in the late 1980’s. The website further states that the soup base is pork, asari, and oyster based. I guess I’m a fan of all ramen, including cup-instant and semi-instant. Of course these aren’t as good as something from a good shop, but they all have their place. Even the nastiest instant ramen will bring back some dirtbag college memory. Nasty this one isn’t. It is one of the better cup ramen that I have had. There was a spicy curry one that I had once that tasted better, but had soup that was unappealingly thick. Go relive your misspent youth and get full at the same time!
Three out of four grunge-monkeys
Recommended
226-yen
More pictures after the break
Found the relocated Sapporo Mandarake. They’re in the Norbessa building with the big ferris wheel on top. The new shop space is much larger, but it didn’t seem like there was a whole lot more content. Surprisingly, I didn’t find any unusual figures or arcane DVD’s or manga to add to my collection. Figure-wise, there seemed to be a lot more of the second-tier game prize figures than before. There were a disturbing number of very graphic, uncensored dakimakura covers. …Oh, and someone bought the 1:1 scale Kokonoe Rin figure.
Darn. Looking through my pictures, I must have forgotten to take pictures of the Suntory Premium Malts Koku no Blend half-and-half I had earlier. Guess I’ll have to drink another!
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The “red can” Yebisu Kohaku is back again, and retains the same wonderfully balanced, full-bodied taste that I enjoyed before. The 100% barley malt has been roasted to a rich, caramel color, yielding a deep honey amber decoction. The hopping is distinct, with a noticeable bitter note at the end, but not as strong as the drier regular Yebisu or the latest iteration of the “blue can” Suntory Malts Premium Pilsener. There is no significant sweetness of floweriness to the hopping. The malt flavor still stands true. The carbonation is more pronounced than other Japanese production beers. It will hold a head a little longer, due to the heavier decoction. Even as the head goes thin, there are still visible bubble trails, and the carbonation blooms in your mouth. This is still one of my favorite JDM production beers.
Three-and-a-half out of four wafuu monkeys
Highly recommended
5.5% ABV
Here’s the review of the 2010 version
More pictures after the break
Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – 2013 Yebisu Kohaku Amber Lager’
Went all the way to Obama, but didn’t see the Obama castle ruins, Myoutsuu-ji, Wakasa hiko-jinja, and Wakasa kokubun-ji. Wakasa hiko-jinja was along the way to Mantoku-ji and Jinguu-ji which I did see, but time ran out.
Went all the way to Kyoto, but didn’t get to Rokudo Sannou-ji to see Yajirou’s well.
Went all the way to the Osaka Aquarium and didn’t see a giant isopod.
Autumn is rolling in a little late this year in Kyoto, and even though it has already rolled through Sapporo, the leaves are only beginning to turn in the old capital. Many of the temples popular for autumn color viewing also open at night for a whole different experience. The main building at Chion-in was closed for extensive renovation, but the grounds were open for night viewing. They even had the stairs to the interior of the main gate open so the inner chamber could be viewed.
More pictures after the break.
Well, at least some of these rooms suck a heck of a lot more than others! This is a good example of terrible 1970’s Japanese commercial architecture. There was a onsen on the top floor, but it was for men only. There was a tiny women’s onsen, but you had to go to the front desk and leave a deposit for the key. The design was awful from the outside too.